Flour sifter brush



y 0, 1968 N. E. SINNOTT 3,394,810

FLOUR S IFTER BRUSH Filed Sept. 5. 1967 United States Patent 3,394,810FLOUR SIFTER BRUSH Nicholas E. Sinnott, 3553 Mapleway Drive, Toledo,Ohio 43614 Filed Sept. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 665,477 3 Claims. (Cl. 209-388)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A flour sifter brush of such structure andform as to be capable of high speed, low cost production; and beinghighly resistant or altogether incapable, during use, of disintegration,as by shredding, breaking or graining to thus adulterate the flour orclog the sifter cloths, during subsequent bolting.

Background of invention Field of invention.A body, movably responsive tosifter agitation in flour bolting, having cloth engaging parts fordislodging the hanging throughs of flour.

Description of the prior art.Sifter brushes have long been known. Insome of these, such as in the US. Patents Nos. 690,994 and 741,370, asheet metal body blank, having an annular clamping rim in which thebrush bristles are held and a protuberance under-shoe, has beensuggested. Also illustrative of the art are US. Patents Nos. 660,569,770,734, 784,859 and 954,237.

Summary of the invention- The invention resides in having, in a floursifter brush, the combination of an annular body, bolt cloth engagingfrusto-conical teeth, and a body-supporting side protuberance of amolded integral hornogeniety of an elastomer.

Brief description of drawings FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of aflour sifter brush embodying the features of my invention in operativerelation to a bolting cloth and supporting screen of a flour sifter;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view, in elevation, of the flour sifter brushshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a plan view of the flour sifter brush shown in FIG.2; and

FIG. 4 shows a view of a section taken along the plane of the line 4-4indicated in FIG. 3.

Description of preferred embodiment A flour sifter brushembodying thefeatures of my invention has a body 10. The body is, as FIG. 3 of theaccompanying drawing shows, preferably of annular form having end faces11 and 12 and an inner lateral face 14.

The body 10 supports a plurality of teeth 20. As FIGS. 2 and 4 of thedrawing show, each tooth 20 extends upwardly from the body 10,particularly from equally spaced points on the end face 11 thereof aboutthe annular axis of the body 10. Preferably, each tooth 20, as FIG. 4shows, is of a truncated conical form, having a base 21, a merginglateral surface 22 and a crown 23. The base 21 of each tooth 20 is inplane and mergence with the end face 11 of the body 10. The crown 23 ofeach tooth 20 is in plane with the corresponding crowns 23 of theneighboring teeth.

The teeth 20, particularly the crowns 23 thereof, are adapted, in use,to engage and rub against the sifter bolt cloth, represented at BC inFIG. 1 of the drawing. In such engagement and passage during the same,the bolt cloth BC is kept operatively free of sifted flour or throughsas may be adhering to the underside of the bolt cloth. In that sense,the engagement of the cloth by the teeth maintaining sifting efficiencyof the bolt cloth.

The body 10 is caused to move relative to the bolting cloth BC by thehorizontal agitation of the sifter box (not shown) but whose screen isshown at S in FIG. 1 of the drawings. The body 10 is supported on thescreen S for such movement by a protuberance or foot 30. Theprotuberance foot 30 is preferably of a hemi-spherical form and ispreferably supported by a spoke 31 of the body 10 The spoke 31 extendsfrom and engages diametrically opposite points on the inner lateral face14 of the body 10 and preferably is of a thickness, measured along theannular axis of the body 10, equal to that of the body between the endfaces 11 and 12 thereof. The protuberance foot 30 extends from the spoke31, its diametric face 32 being in plane and mergence with the spoke 31.The foot 30 has a rounded face 33 which extends about a point on theannular axis of the body 10 and away from the plane of the face 12thereof.

Thus, as is shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawing, the body 10 maybe supported on the screen S so that upwardly extending teeth 20 thereofengage the bottom surface of the bolt cloth BC. As the sifter of whichscreen S and bolt cloth BC are parts is horizontally vibrated, the body10, riding on the foot 30 over the screen S, moves, by inertia,late-rally relative to the bolt cloth to cause its teeth 20 to brush thebolt cloth. This tends to dislodge the throughs flour hanging to suchunderside of the bolt cloth and prevents it from becoming ineflicientlyClogged.

The body 10, its spoke 31, the teeth 20 and the shoe 30 are of integralhomogeneity. Material, such as Estane, a polyurethane of The B. F.Goodrich Company, may be used to good advantage by injection molding toform a single elastomer. This allows the sifter brush embodying myinvention to be made and placed in use at a very low cost. Also,contrary to the prior art brushes, the wear of a sifter brush embodyingmy invention does not result in shred and bristle debris with theconsequent problem of adulteration and need for removal.

I claim:

1. A flour sifter brush comprising a molded annular body a plurality ofteeth in engagement with and extending upwardly from equally spacedpoints on the body about and in a direction parallel to the annular axisof the body;

a spoke in engagement with the body and extending between diametricallyopposite points on the body; and

a protuberance in engagement with the spoke and extending downwardlyfrom a point thereon between the spoke ends;

the teeth, spoke and protuberance being of a integral homogeneity withthe body.

2. A flour sifter brush as described in claim 1 in which 5 the teeth areeach of a truncated conical shape having 770734 a base in plane andmergence with the body; and 3 327'339 the porturbence is substantiallyof a hemi-spherical shape having its diameter in plane and mergence withthe spoke. 10 3. A flour sifter brush as described in claim 2 in which1:282:609

the body, teeth, spoke and protuberance are an integral elastomer ofpolyurethane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1900 Gray 209388 1/1902Peterson 209-388 9/1904 Bonifield 209-388 6/ 1967 Lemelson 15-209FOREIGN PATENTS 12/1961 France.

PETER FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

